Extaordinary Ordinary, or, Just So I Can Remember What "Normal" Looked Like When We Had a 5, a 4, a 2 and a 1

Tuesdays are Ordinary. This one was no exception.


Here is what I did last Tuesday, as best I can remember it.


4:45. First Alarm. Hubs will turn it off two more times before getting up.
5:45. I half-slept until now, when he left for work. Then I fell asleep accidentally until 6:00, which throws everything off. Whoops.
Got up, got coffee, got quiet time books, got in a chair, sat by the light of the lamp.
Spent "too much time" with Jesus, lost another 15 minutes. Not so whoops, I suppose, but now I was really off.
7:00 Work out. 20 minutes instead of the usual 30 in direct result of said lateness. It's me, a podcast, and my target heart rate.
Make and eat breakfast. Wolf down eggs, jump in shower.
If I had KNOWN that the up-late girls were going to sleep in, it aaaaaall could have coasted just fine.
8:00 I find myself with my main little man Hudson, unaware of the memo about sleeping in. The girls should be getting up right now. I work with intensity to finish dishes, laundry sorting, getting the dogs out, and several other things before they get up. Those are things I usually do while they eat, so I figure I'll feel ahead of the game this way. Or something.
8:50 They roll up the stairs, and grace the breakfast table and their brother with their presence.
I start on the first of what will be 5 loads of laundry (a week's worth).
9:30 I let everyone choose their own clothes, excepting Hudson of course, because we'll be home all day. Boy, they picked some doozies. We do hair. I make another 2 cups of coffee, because I'm cold.
10:00 It's already Hudson's nap, due to the lateness of the ladies. Where did that time go?
10:15 Schooool. Grace and Patience read aloud (boy I am proud of them!), Lily does Kumon worksheets, I make them endure the smell of my coffee breath while we work, we count out dimes, pennies and dollars, their values, and count to 100 by tens because there's no time for the "real" way. We read another book about cities (the week's topic), then we start on a 10-foot-piece of paper project, creating a city of our own (that might get to Home Schoolin' Mamas someday).
11:30 The girls scramble to the couch for the start of Sesame Street, the big shining moment of TV watching in their day.
I scramble upstairs to eat a quick lunch, catch a podcast, and plan our menu and grocery list for the next 2 weeks. I even get to facebook for a stint.
12:30 Lunch for the kids. I prep for that night's dinner.
Then we work on that 10-foot-paper project for a while, and it's really, really fun.
I force the girls to potty whether they feel like it or not, then we read Grace's 5 library book picks for the week, because it's her day.
Then it's time to set up for naps and quiet times in everyone's little corners of the house, while Lily, Hudson and I read Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? in her bed.
Hudson happily kisses his "ti-ter" [sister] "byyyyyye" [goodnight] and licks her face for a kiss. One down. It's sloppy kisses for the other two sisters before I lay him down too. Grace didn't appreciate the slop as much as Hudson did.
2:30 Dogs out. Dogs treats. Dogs kennel. Mama mail. Nothing good. Diet Coke. Silence. Absolutely fabulous. Internet, reading, catching up on an episode of Psych. Silence some more. Ahhh.
Pay Bills because it's the day to do it. Went really smoothly, so woot-woot, it's done.
4:00 Get Grace so we can read together. She reads me a book about princesses and I should not fail to mention again how proud I am of her. Because I'm her mom, and I like to mention how fabulous my kids are. Fab-u-lous.
Grace gets set on Webkinz.com with her pony Sparkles and I work on the treadmill for my 20 minutes (the best cure I can find for my late-afternoon Willy Nillies. Pretty much licks them. I can't believe it took me so long to figure that out. Wearing my work out clothes and being slightly stinky for the rest of the evening on many nights because I don't always have time to shower and change before I start dinner is a small price to pay for not wigging out).
4:45 Everyone's getting up. Snacks, I skip reading to them from our chapter book (George MacDonald's The Light Princess) and talk to their Dad on the phone instead. Love that man.
Make dinner, which was some fabulous beef stew and biscuits.
I had help from Patience, while Grace, Lily and Hudson worked on puzzles, playing, and mess-making.
6:00 Daddy gets home, Mama praises the Lord. The girls clean up. We eat the fabulous dinner.
Patience spotted the secret ice cream in the freezer and asks for some for dessert. We comply, after finished plates.
Dinner clean up while Lily and Hudson play and Jim catches up online and puts air in my tire and...
Grace and Patience run downstairs to sort and put away their laundry, in addition to Lily and Hudson's since they can't do their own (they get paid extra for that!). They know that if they're done by the time the timer goes off (60 minutes), they get a special treat. They work hard and get laundry for 4 sorted, folded, and hung in 28 minutes. Superstars. A handful of conversation hearts for each follows.
7:15 While the girls enjoy their treat (Lily gets some too for NOT "helping", aka interfering, with G and P's work), they chat it up with Dad in the kitchen, followed by a VERY rambunctious wrestling/tag/tickling match in the living room involving all five of them, while...
I sort, fold and put away my own laundry, and Jim's of course too. It's a little service I throw in. I'm sweet like that.
7:30 I retrieve Hudson from the bathtub, where he'd snuck in to play with the toys during the mayhem of the living room. Love him, kiss him, shut off his light and bid him a sweet night. He was initially annoyed with his forced-removal from the tub, but got over it when I handed him "Bankers" [favorite blanket] and he hit the mattress ready for some shut-eye.
Jim gets the girls ready for bed, reads and prays with them, and all is


quiet.


I catch up on some work online, Jim runs on the treadmill. He ran pretty fast (showoff) so it was loud while I was working, but it's just nice to be in the same room with him. And the rest of the night was ours.
10:00 We're asleep baby.

We do have to get up at 4:45, you know.